Hedge-cutter.



H. E. MARSHALL. HEDGE cumR. APPLICATION FILED LULY 25, I912.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Hardened 01f Oufer surface onl HERBERT E. MARSHALL, on NEW roan, N. Y.

HGE-CUTTER.

To all whom it may concern:

' New York, have invented useful Improvements in Hedge-Cutters, of whichthe following is a specification, refer-' manipulation.

Be it known that I, HERB RT, E. MAR- SHALL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, in thecounty of Kings and State of certain new and ence being had therein tothe accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to hedge cutters and has for its objects to providea cutter which will be strong, composed of but few parts, simple inconstruction. ufacture, effective in operation and easy of Anotherobject of my invention is to provide a construction of cutter which willafford an advantage of leverage and at the same time will permit ofconveniently and effectively clamping the cutting teeth together.

Another object is to prevent binding by the accumulation of materialbetween the two pivoted members.

Another object is to provide cutting edges for the teeth which will beself-sharpening.

Still other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from thefollowing description.

In carrying out my invention, I provide two bodymembers which arepivoted together, each of which is provided with a rearwardly extendingoperating handle and with a plurality of cutting teeth at its front end,and between the pivotand the teeth I provide movement-limiting means andan adjustable yielding clamp for clamping the front end of the pivotedmembers together. The body members and the cutting teeth are concave andare arranged with their concave faces together.

y invention comprehends cutting edges for the teeth having their outersides harder than their inner sides.

My invention also includes more particularly features of constructionand combina tions of parts, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I shall now describe the hedge cutter embodying my invention illustratedin the accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point out my inventionin (31311118.

Figure 1 is a plan or face view of the cutter; Fig. 2' is a sideelevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of theSpecification of Letters Patent. Application filed July 25,

inexpensive of man- 1912. SerialNo.71 1,M0.

33 of Fig. 1, looking transverse section of the same on the line 4-1 ofFig. 1, looking down. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on an enlargedscale of two of the cohperating cutting teeth, taken on the'line 55 ofFig.

Fig. 6 1s a transverse section through one g thle handles taken on theline 6-6 of n the illustrated embodiment of my invention, I employ twocoiiperative body members of sheet metal or other suitable material, anupper body member 11 and a lower body member 12, pivoted together neartheir rear ends and provided with rearward extensions or operatingshanks, 13 and 14, respectively, on their outer sides, to which suitablehandles, 15 and 16, respectively, are secured. At their front ends thebody members are provided with a plurality of cooperative taperedcutting teeth, or blades, having origin or beginning in spaced relationto the pivot of and forming extensions of the bodies and shown as havingcutting edges of scalloped form, the upper body member 11 being providedwith three teeth 17 and the lower body member 12 being rovided with fourteeth 18. All of the teeth or blades 17 and 18 are equally spaced on thebody members and are of the same shape and dimensions excepting theoutermost teeth of the lower body member 12, these latter teeth beingshown as wider at same on the line down. Fig. 4 is a their outer marginsand merging by straight lines into the body member. The teeth are soarranged relative to each other that, as the body members are oscillatedabout their pivot, the upper and lower cutting teeth cooperate with ashearing action.

To provide the necessary strength and rigidity for the parts and at thesame time to prevent the parts from binding from an accumulation ofmaterial between the blades, I prefer to make the bodies and theirextensions concave and arranged with their con cave sides together, asshown, thereby providing a hollow interior to receive loose material andfrom which it willreadily drop or may easily be removed. Between theinwardly curved edge portions, the body members 11 and 12 are flattened,presenting plane surfaces, and are in spaced parallel relation; Halfround Wedging blocks 18 are driven into the handles, as shown in Fig. 6,to secure the handles in place. The rearward extensions or shanks 13 and14 project ratemea Sept. a, was.

i and shown as adjacent that each tooth yielding one,

screw 19 to at an angle to the respectivebody members 11 and 12, so thatthe handles15 and 16 are offset outward from the body members, toprovide clearance of the hedge for the handles and the hands of theuser.

In order to provide a sufficient range of movement of the teeth, thepivot pin 19 is disposed adjacent to the rear ends of the body members11 and 12, and to limit the oscillatory movement of the members aboutthe pivotand at the same time to clamp the front ends of the bodymembers together so as to hold the cutting teeth 17 and 18 in cuttingrelation to each other, a movementlimiting means combined with ayieldable clamping device. are provided in front of the pivot 19,between the pivot pin 19 and the beginning of the cutting teeth orblades to the latter. These means include a screw forming an abutmentstud20, which is carried by the body member 12, and extends upwardlytherefrom through an arcuate slot 21 formed in the upper body member 11concentrically with the pivot 19.

A clamping nut 22 at the upper end of the screw 20 draws the two bodymembers together. To make this clamping action a a spring washer 23 isdisposed between the nut 22 and the upper body member 11. The springaction of the centrally spaced concave body members 11 and 12 is alsoutilized to press the cutting edges of the fingers or blades 17 and 18resiliently together. The slot 21 is of such length as to permitsufiicient relative movement between the two body members for a shearingaction, the range of movement being such on the upper 11 cooperates withtwoteeth on the lower body member, and so that each tooth or blade 17will stop opposite a tooth or blade 18, to form therewith a'taperedfinger which will readily separate and enter between the branches orstems of the hedge. It is to be noted that the blades 17 and 18 projectradially of the pivot pin 19. That the cutter may pass over the hedgewithout catching, the lower face of the cutter is made smooth and forthis purpose the heads of the screws 19 and 20 are made flush with thebottom face of the body member 12. To effect this and also to provideadequate bearing sura faces for the pins or screws 19 and 20, the"sockets of the body members are sunken in or depressed about the screwholes so as to provide countersunk bearing portions in which the taperedheads and adjacent portions of the screws may fit substantially flushwith the bottom as shown, the depressed annular surfaces surrounding andforming bearing surfaces for the screw pins 19 and 20. The upper bodymember 11 is also preferably depressed about the pivot form a bearingsocket for the .lar bearing surfaces for the pivot pin,

and this socket is covered by in pivot screw, the washer plate 24, whichis secured place by the nut 25 on the pivot screw 19.

With my construction'of cutter, the teeth may be readily and easilyclamped together and this clamping action adjusted, and my improvedcutter is advantageous in leverage and in convenience of operation. Thecooperating cutting edges of the teeth are the outer marginal scallopededges and are at the junction of an outer face and a cutting face orshearing face arranged angle to each other. To make these cutting edgesself-sharpening, I harden the outer surface of the teeth more than theinner surface. In view of the fact that each of the blades or teeth 17and 18 consists of a single thickness of steel of homogeneous structurethroughout except as to the hardening at one side, it is accordinglyevident that these teeth will be hardest at the outside surface and willbecome gradually softer inward therefrom toward the inner side. Asillustrated in Fig. 5, the outer portions 26 of the opposed or cuttingfaces of the teeth 17 and 18 are hardened to a greater extent than theinner portions 27, with the result that, by reason of the rubbingtogether or rubbing contact of the cutting faces,the inner parts ofthese opposed cutting faces will wear down more rapid y than the outerparts and the acuteness of the angle will thereby be maintained oraccentuated and the teeth thereby rendered selfsharpening.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the constructionshown in the drawings and above particularly described within theprinciple and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A hedge cutter comprising, in combination, two cooperating concavemembers arranged with their concave sides adjacent, the central portionsof these members eing flattened to present plane surfaces and being inparallel relation, a pivot pin passing through the flattened parallelportions and pivoting together the two members, the members in theirflattened portions having pivot holes for the pivot pin, the marginsaround the pivot" holes being depressed and turned inward around thepivot pin so that the depressed annular surfaces form annuthe membersbeing provided with a plurality of cooperating concave cutting bladesprojecting therefrom and arranged withtheir concave sides adjacent, eachof the members being provided with an operating shank, each 2. A hedgecutter comprising, in combinaat an acutetion, two cooperating concavemembers arranged with their concave sides adjacent, the central portionsof these members being flattened to present plane surfaces and being inparallel relation, a pivot pin passing through the flattened parallelportions and pivoting together thetwo members, the members in theirflattened portions having pivot holes for the pivot pin, the marginsaround the pivot holes being depressed and turned inward around thepivot pin so that the depressed annular surfaces form annular bearingsurfaces for the pivot pin, the members being provided with a pluralityof cooperating concave cutting blades projecting therefrom and arrangedwith their concave sides adjacent, each of the members being providedwith an operating shank, each member and its blades and shank being of asingle piece of sheet metal, the upper member in its flat portionadjacent to the blades having therein a limiting slot, an abutment studcarried by the lower member and projecting through the limiting slot,the lower member having a socket hole therein for the abutment stud, themargin around the socket being depressed and turned inward around theabutment stud so that the depressed annular surface gives firm supportto the abutment stud, and adjustable yielding means carried by the freeend of the abutment stud for yieldingly and adjustably pressing thecooperating blades into cooperating relation.

3. A hedge cutter comprising, in combination, a steel cutting blade anda member adjacent thereto and cooperating therewith, the blade having acutting edge cooperating with such member by shearing action and theblade at its cutting edge being harder at one side and becominggradually softer toward'its other side and having its softer sideadjacent to such member so that rubbing contact with such member willprogressively bear away the softer portions of the blade more rapidlythan the harder portions to offset the wear upon the cutting edge due tothe cutting operation and keep the cutting edge sharp.

4. A hedge cutter comprising, in combination, two cooperating steelcutting blades arranged with sides adjacent for shearing action andhaving cooperating cutting edges,

the blades at their cutting edges being harder at an angle to form acutting edge, the blade being harder adjacent to the shearing face atits outer side and becoming gradually softer inward therefrom toward itsinner concave side so that the rubbing contact with such member'willprogressively wear away the softer portions of the blade more rapidlythan the harder portions to keep the cutting edge of the blade sharp.

6. A hedge cutter comprising, in combination, two cooperating concavesteel cutting blades arranged with their concave sides adjacent andhaving cooperating shearing faces in rubbing contact, the blades beingharder adjacent to the shearing faces at the outside of the blades andbecoming gradually softer inward therefrom toward, the inner concavesides of the blades.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

HERBERT E. MARSHALL.

Witnesses:

VICTOR D. BORST, BERNARD CowEN.

